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Monday, 7 January 2013

From the moment we first looked through their kaleidoscope back in 2010, Agi&Sam have dazzled, delighted and most importantly developed season after season. Ever pushing the other forward, the print princes soon graduated from their starring roles inside the Fashion East Installations on to the stage of MAN and now stand at the forefront of all that is exciting about London Collections: Men. Despite winning plaudits and stockists alike with their vivid prints, eye for colour and particular sense of humour, the design duo continue to refine and mature. For Autumn/Winter 2013 they will take another leap forward.

Given that we're only a few hours away from the show, we couldn't resist diving headfirst in to their heady cocktail of inspirations before sampling from the smörgåsbord of the familiar with the surprising. From the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to the Day of the Dead, 80s detectives to the eve of the apocalypse, we're used to wandering the disorientating landscape of their shared mishmash mind. For their latest concoction, Agi&Sam were drawn to the eccentric world of the Marquess of Bath, wandered the rooms of stately homes and admired the soft furnishings whilst daydreaming about David Hockney before duly reimagining their own English aristocracy. Here, the duo allow us to press our eyes against their latest well crafted kaleidoscope and talk us through the mood board...

"We were looking at The Marquess of Bath and Longleat and bohemian Detmar Blow. We were sucked in to his colourful world of eccentricities, from his seventy 'wifelets' that live around his estate who fight over his affections to his own style and the furnishings of the home. The first time I encountered him was on the Grayson Perry documentary, In the Best Possible Taste but I'm sure that Sam had mentioned him a few times beforehand. We actually had the idea of exploring a British heritage collection before our last autumn/winter season but we had to hold off until it felt right. Now it does. We looked at the stately homes of the aristocracy and the different roles played within them. There have been shifts in how the aristocracy have dressed but we were drawn to different elements from each era. We tend not to take anything too literally. Coming from our different backgrounds, our inspirations are always a constant mix of things that come together to create Agi&Sam..." Agape Mdumulla

We really stepped it up with the tailoring this season to make sure it is on point. It's always a development process but we really pushed ourselves this season. We're not competitive people but we always want to out do ourselves each season and improve on the last. From spending a lot of time on the little things like the fusing, finding the right canvas and the finishing on the inside including the labels, everything had to be as good as it can be. Now, we've become known for our loud prints but we wanted to tone it down this season. We've probably created more prints than ever but they are more subtle and hopefully that little bit more wearable alongside the more plain pieces. Also, it was great to return to more hand drawn prints and we had fun subverting traditional ones. Many prints appear quite small from a distance but really pop in the styling. There is so much detail this season from pocket squares to engraved tie pins - there are so many more finishings. The collections is bright and colourful but in a more mature way." Sam Cotton

Saturday, 5 January 2013

"A shark's fin, a storm drain, plastic coverings and scar tissue" are just a few of the descriptions that trickle from Raimund Berthold's mouth as we sit in his central London studio to discuss Autumn/Winter 2013/14. Seemingly disparate and certainly peculiar, Berthold's latest ingredients list might unnerve a few but given his ability to balance and create beauty from the unexpected, most will be justifiably excited. As many other London designer's toil right down to the wire, praying that factories deliver missing garments in time for the big unveiling on Monday, one feels that Berthold has been ready for some time, quietly refining and perfecting his vision. Now, just days away from the launch of the new season with London Collections: Men, the blossoming design talent is keen to take another confident step forward.

To further whet our appetite, Berthold discusses his methods, updated us on his progress and allows us to take a close look at his latest shimmery wall of curiosities. Rich in detail shots and all manner of found imagery, the mood board came to life with excited narrative from the designer himself and it was impossible to leave the studio anything but inspired and excited for the fruits that the new season will bring.

"I would describe my design process as quite organic. First, my research either entails discovering a catalyst that sparks the thought process or in other instances, I approach it with a clear mind and spend a day in the library going through book after book, collating images that do something and inspire me to start sketching. I'm drawn to anything that catches my eye and provokes a reaction, both good and bad and I see where it takes me. If something grabs my attention, I stick it on the wall and begin sketching but I sketch away from the image itself. I always keep the design quite loose initially. It is always more about a feeling, a silhouette, shape, a length or rough details. If I get bored with it, I move on but often mutates in to something else entirely through a number of different sketches.

This season it was all about that combination of something that is strong and protective with something that is raw and softer. This idea was sparked from an image of a shark fin. It was such a powerful image, seeing the fleshy meat under the dark, thick skin. I had to put it right in the centre of the mood board as I found myself frequently returning to it. Elsewhere, I was looking at street images to help with the mood, finding things that had been discarded, walked over because I didn't want the collection to be too pretty and this ties in with the print. I'm always drawn to images of things that are covered in plastic. I like the variation and you can see a similar effect in the collection with the use of waxed cotton and nylon There's a story of crossing out and removal which evolved from a flyer. The collection is dark but rather than having a contrast of black and navy, I wanted the prints to be quite light.

The print came from a bike ride. I was riding around Westminster close to Victoria and Scotland Yard, looked down and noticed the storm drain. It was just so beautiful. The colours were vivid and I actually had to change them a little to make the print lighter. I wanted it to feel more like a grey and wet day rather than a beautiful sunny day. To satisfy myself, we've experimented a little with a few variations throughout the collection, from small tiling to blowing it up quite large. From the orange juice of last season to the storm drain, I have no idea what will catch my eye next season. I've probably got about twenty images that I could use but I might work with the Patternity girls agin but this time, give very little input and just see what comes back, that could be fun because they've got so much energy.

I wanted to play with proportions a little bit more this season. The oversized trousers were inspired from an image that I found of a little boy in waders and there are a lot of frock coat shapes because I liked the look of garments being longer at the back than the front. They create such an interesting silhouette. Also, I was inspired by the shoulder detailing on hunting jackets but rather than be able to rest a shotgun on them, I wanted them to be functional oversized pockets and instead of leather I used a number of different materials throughout the outerwear and sweatshirts. I intentionally didn't research hunting jackets because I wanted the pieces to be very different and not copied from something quite obvious but I was drawn to a snapshot of that detail...

Snapshots of Berthold's shimmery wall of curiosities for AW13

Ideas often mutate between the garments themselves and I find that exciting. When you start working on a garment you often uncover clever additions or notice amendments that elevate it, then of course it can all change again during the first fitting. This ability to change is important to my design process. There is only finality when the last toile is made." Raimund Berthold.

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Style Salvage is blog about how men could (and do) dress. Started back in June 2007, the blog aims to showcase emerging and established design talent alike. It features style commentary, 7 day style diaries, interviews with designers, journalists and shop owners mixed in with the occasional personal style shot.